


Faith and Trust

by conceptstage



Series: Single Chapter Critical Role [100]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: spoilers for episode 88
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21696337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/conceptstage/pseuds/conceptstage
Summary: A conversation between Leylas and Allura about the Mighty Nein
Series: Single Chapter Critical Role [100]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1436668
Comments: 8
Kudos: 159





	Faith and Trust

“Your Illuminance.”

Leylas looked up from the paper that she was reading on her desk to look at Essek standing in the doorway. She paused for a moment to wipe off her quill and sit it in the stand so that it wouldn’t drip on her paper and waved him to enter with her other hand. “Shadowhand, you may enter.”

He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. He stepped up to her desk and bowed before relaxing with his hands clasped behind his back. “You have a visitor from the council of Tal Dorei.”

She hummed thoughtfully and moved to stand. “The Voice of the Tempest again? It has been some time since her last diplomatic visit.”

“No, my Queen. A woman named Allura Vysoren, an arcanist.”

Leylas paused and gave him a considering frown. “Vysoren? Lady Keyleth has mentioned the name but I have never met the woman in person. Did she say the purpose of her visit?”

“She claims…” he paused and cleared his throat. She couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes, some strange mix of caution, worry and optimism. “She claims to have news on the whereabouts of The Mighty Nein.”

Leylas blinked in shock and stood up straight with her shoulders tense. “They live? Our scries have turned up nothing for a month.”

He cleared his throat. “When she arrived, before I came to you, I asked my assistant to do a quick scry and she says that she saw them in the Empire.”

Leylas frowned at her desk, suspicion swirling in her chest but she pushed it down. The Mighty Nein had not let them down yet, part of their appeal to her was their ability to move through the Empire uninhibited, there was nothing wrong with finding them there. But where had they been for the past month? Why had their earlier divination been blocked?

“I will meet her in the throne chamber.”

Essek nodded and bowed once more before turning to leave. Leylas milled around in her office for a few minutes, trying to quickly gather her thoughts and prepare her questions, and then made her way to the throne room. The large doors were opened for her as she stepped inside and she instantly saw a human woman standing in the center of the chamber look up at her. She didn’t know many humans but she could tell that this woman was quite a bit older than Beauregard, thought she wasn’t entirely sure how many years would be appropriate. Humans lived for such a short amount of time, it wasn’t until she met the Mighty Nein that she ever felt somewhat sad about that fact. She was a pretty woman with laugh lines and crows feet and long, braided blonde hair with faint streaks of gray. She was wearing very nice clothes which indicated wealth and a large diamond ring on her left hand, a married woman then. She gave Leylas an awkward bow at the waist like she wasn’t sure what was expected of her and Leylas gave her a nod of acknowledgement as she turned sharply towards her throne and started up the stairs. She handed off her staff to the young Prodigy next to her and took a seat, smoothing out her skirt around her knees. Essek stepped up beside the human woman, Allura Vysoren, and spoke quietly with her. The woman blushed and rushed to curtsy instead of bow.

“Your Illuminance,” she said. “My name is Acanist Allura Vysoren of the Tal Dorei Council.”

“I welcome you to our country, Arcanist. What can I do for the Tal Dorei council?” She wanted to jump right into her questions about the Mighty Nein but she knew better than to ask things of an unknown political figure without leverage.

“I am actually here, with the permission of the Tal Dorei Council, on information given to me by a mercenary group called The Mighty Nein, who I believe you’ve had dealings with in the past.”

Leylas raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. “Yes. They have been a great asset to us.”

Allura bit her lip. “Do you… Do you trust them? Do you trust their word?”

This was an interesting turn. “I do,” she said. “As much as I can afford to trust anyone with ties to the Empire.” Essek looked off the side when his assistant, a young half orc prodigy, waved him over. Essek stepped away from Allura with a short bow to his Queen and they spoke quietly in the shadows.

Allura nodded and seemed to come to a conclusion. “I met the Mighty Nein recently, at the home of a good friend and colleague of mine. He had gotten himself in a spot of trouble and they saved him. I won’t get into detail about it, it’s not why I’m here, but afterwards I offered to look on a friend of theirs who had been forced by magic into the service of an entity called The Angel of Irons.”

“Yes,” Leylas said. “I remember when that occurred, they brought news of a being called Obann and The Laughing Hand who were doing the bidding of such an entity.”

“Well, I did look on their stolen friend, a young woman named Yasha, and found proof that the Angel of Irons was a ruse. The actual hand behind the chaos belongs to no other than Tharizdun, The Chained Oblivion. He and the cults that he is manipulating are influencing both sides into war and attempting to weaken the veil between this plane and the Abyss to bring him through.” Leylas kept her face even as she listened but several voices in the room with them started to rise. “The Mighty Nein are following the trail of Obann to bring a stop to him and to The Chained Oblivion before they can succeed.”

Leylas was quiet for a long moment that hung in the air before giving Allura a considering look. “And you, a member of the Tal Dorei government, have come all this way to bring me this news?”

“No, your Illuminance. Tal Dorei has been neutral in this conflict and we intend to stay that way. I bring you this news because I owe The Mighty Nein a debt of gratitude and they want nothing more than to see an end to this conflict. I am here to ask that you give them that chance. Both sides of this conflict are being manipulated into this to further the goals of a truly evil and chaotic being and I know that that would never be your intention.”

Leylas opened her mouth to speak but paused when Essek stepped back up to Allura’s side. “Your Illuminance,” he said. “I am terribly sorry to interrupt. We just got word from some of our soldiers in the assault on Rexxentrum. A half orc man with your symbol just spoke to him in the streets of the city. The Mighty Nein are in Rexxentrum as we speak. They do not appear to be fighting on the side of the Empire.”

Allura’s eyes widened and she turned back to look at the queen. “If they are there, then so is Obann. He is using your attack to hide his own machinations.”

Leylas tried to keep her face even but, in her mind, her thoughts were buzzing. “Melira,” she called. Essek’s assistant jumped in surprise and stepped forward with her head bowed. 

“Y-Yes, Your Illuminance?” 

“Would you please scry on… have you met any of The Mighty Nein?”

“Y-Yes, I have spoken to Beauregard, the blue monk.” There was a slight blush on her cheeks that Leylas did not mention or ask about.

“Would you scry on her and tell me what she and her team are doing at this moment?”

Melira nodded quickly and started drawing a spell in the air. Her eyes rolled back and started to glow slightly and it was only a moment before she began to speak. “They are standing in a place of worship of some kind, fighting a… monstrosity with several mouths all over its body. There is a demon above Beau’s head, a red skinned fiend. I- Oh my!” she cut herself off with a gasp. “Beauregard has gone down.”

She felt rage start to bubble in her stomach. How dare this cult use her righteous war to cover for their evil work? She would not allow it. She would never.

“General Trian,” she called. An older drow man stepped forward and bowed low, his dark armor clinking as he moved. “Withdraw your troops from Rexxentrum.”

His eyes widened. “Y-Your Illuminance-”

“Do not question me. I will not help this creature get his way. Withdraw your troops, we will regroup and attack again after The Mighty Nein have been successful.”

“And if they are not?” Trian asked. “I have no knowledge of these mercenaries, I do not trust them to do what needs to be done.”

“Your Queen does. Withdraw your troops, General. Now.”

He cowed and nodded. “Yes, my Queen.” He turned to leave and spoke quietly with his lieutenants while she turned back to address Allura.

“If the Mighty Nein succeed… I will be willing to come to the table and discuss peace. Provided the Empire returns what has been stolen.”

There was worry in Allura’s eyes but she nodded, her face determined. “They will succeed, Your Illuminance. I have faith in them. If you’ll allow me, I would go to Rexxentrum myself now. To bring your message to the King and to do what I can to help The Mighty Nein’s cause.”

Leylas nodded and waved her hand. “Thank you for your initiative, Arcanist, and for the news you bring. Do give The Voice of the Tempest my best when you see her next.”

Allura nodded and turned to leave, lead out of the chamber by Melira. Essek frowned and turned to his queen with his eyebrows furrowed. “This worries me. An entity like the Chained Oblivion interfering so easily with our plans. We have an agent in our midst, high enough to be privy to secret information.”

Leylas nodded and stood from her throne, walking down the stairs to stand in front of him. “Yes, it worries me as well. We must focus on rooting out this infiltration as quickly as possible and then we can begin preparing for this… peace talk, should it happen. And the Mighty Nein…”

Essek nodded, worry in the lines of his shoulders. “I trust that they will survive. If I have learned anything from working with them, it is to not underestimate their ability to crawl away after a fight.”


End file.
